We were lucky to catch up with Lee Kincheloe recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lee, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Developing a successful company is really the culmination and collision of a handful of key ingredients – and perhaps a bit of luck, although luck favors persistence. It starts with spotting a problem/pain that impacts not just you, but others; one that hasn’t been solved or addressed well enough by someone else. Then understanding the problem well enough to construct the RIGHT solution to solve the ROOT problem. Finally, the vision becomes tangible through ironing out the details, hiring the right leaders for the job, constantly learning and applying, and perseverance. To launch, I made an embarrassingly chaotic powerpoint, reached out to numerous leads, and before long, and my first 2 partner locations. From there, I reinvested 100% of profits into the company and soon after brought on 2 part-time assistants and Jackson Bowen as COO to manage staff development. Over the next 6 months we added 2 more locations and collected as much data and feedback as possible, constantly refining our processes and user experience. Once we had enough data and a consistent workflow established, we turned out attention to tech development to allow us to become far more scalable and in order to position ourselves for the growth ahead.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Growing up in a working-class family, I loved tennis but found it difficult to integrate into the sport due to social and economic barriers. Despite that, I fell in love with the sport, as well as pickleball along the way. It was clear that such life-changing sports should be more easily accessible to players and potential players. But in order to solve the problem, we had to take the time necessary to understand all the people and entities that were involved in the equation and create a whole new approach that created value for everyone. For us, we created a solution for both sides: get more engagement on underutilized courts while lowering the barriers of entry for local players. This resulted in creating greater accessibility and play opportunities for players at a lower cost while creating higher engagement and revenue for court owners. Being profitable is essential, but solving a problem with the right solution, putting people first, and having perseverance is what makes a company “successful” in the long term.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Life is unpredictable and rapid changes can be difficult to navigate. For a two-year period, while my wife was finishing her degree as ASU, I was driving back and forth between Boone and Raleigh (3.5-4hr drive each way) twice per week in order to run my startup and be with my family. This came with hardships, lack of money and time, and quite frankly, sheer exhaustion. But this is where perseverance is key – an entrepreneur isn’t an entrepreneur because it’s always easy and fun. Rather, it’s the ability to take those chapters of life, humble yourself, and use them as a chance to learn and grow through those hardships. Those moments are ones where life is handing you a chance to improve and strengthen your resiliency, so count them as a blessing!

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Find people who are true to themselves and care about people, because the leaders you choose establish the culture you create. Having one-on-one meetings and showing your team that you truly care about them goes a long way, and communicating in positivity and transparency certainly helps as well. If people see your persistency, diligence, kindness, and vision, they are far more likely to go out on a limb for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tennisbloc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lee_kincheloe/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.kincheloe/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-kincheloe-3952a061
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lee_kincheloe